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MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980

ISSN–1655-3853 • MAY 1 - 7, 2009 • VOL. 30, NO. 18 • 8 PAHINA • P10.00

PPAGKAGKALAALAT NG MEXICAN FLT NG MEXICAN FLUU

Handa ang Bulacan gamitang karanasan sa bird flu

Ubokabularyo: Praktikalna panlaban sa flu virus

Nakarating sa Hong Kongang kinakatakutang sakit

NI DINO BALABO

LUNGSOD NG MALOLOS — Nakahanda ang lalawigan ng Bulacansa kinatatakutang sakit na influenza A H1N1 (swine flu) sa kabilang mabilis na pagkalat nito mula sa Mexico at Amerika noongnakaraang linggo hanggang makarating na sa Hongkong.

TROPEO NG PARANGAL — Naka-ngiting kinamayan ni dating ComelecChairman Christian S. Monsod (kanan)si Dino Balabo ng Mabuhay matapostanggappin ang tropeo para sa parangalna “Best in photojournalism” sa isina-gawang 13th Philippine Press InstituteCivic Journalism Community Press

Photojournalism Awardmuling nakuha ng Mabuhay

5 bahagdan ng pagtugon sa flu pandemic5 bahagdan ng pagtugon sa flu pandemic

HAGONOY, Bulacan — Mabilisanang pagkilos ng mga dalubhasa ng WorldHealth Organization (WHO) na luma-laban at humahanap ng gamot sakinatatakutang sakit hatid ng influenzaA H1N1 virus o ang Mexican swine fluna nagsimulang kumalat noong hulinglinggo ng Abril.

Ngunit sa Bulacan, simple lamangang nakahandang panlaban sa sakit naumabot na sa Hongkong noong Mayo 1kung kailan nakumpirma na isangmanlalakbay ang nahawahan nito.

Ayon kay Dr. Joycelyn Gomez, pub-lic health officer ng Bulacan, walangpangamba ang mga Bulakenyo sakinatatakutang Influenza A H1N1 dahil

LUNGSOD NG MALOLOS—Kinumpirma ng mataas ngopisyal ng Department of Agri-culture sa Gitnang Luzon na angstage five pandemic response naidineklara ng World Health Or-ganization (WHO) noong Abril30 laban sa pagkalat ng sakit naInfluenza AH1N1 ay batay sainihandang bird flu prepared-ness plan.

“Iisa ang protocol na sinu-sunod sa pandemic,” ani Dr.Romeo Manalili, pangrehiyong

beterinaryo, sa isang text messagena ipinadala sa Mabuhay noongMayo 1.

Si Dr. Manalili ang opisyal nanagpahayag sa Mabuhay noongMarso na ang aral na kanilangnatutunan sa pagsugpo ng ebolareston virus na natuklasan saisang babuyan sa Pandi, Bulacanay gagamitin sakaling magkarooninsidente ng bird flu dito sabansa.

Sa nasabing operasyon labansa ebola reston virus, sinabi ni

Manalili na ang mga patakarangkanilang ginamit ay batay sainihandang preparedness planlaban sa bird flu noong 2006.

Ayon sa panrelihiyong beteri-naryo, simple lamang ang dahilankung bakit ginamit ang bird flupreparedness plan laban sa ebolareston. “Parehong viral iyan kayapareho ng protocol,” ani Manalili.

Ito rin ang prinsipyong sinu-sunod ngayon ng mga dalubhasasa pagtugon sa influenza A H1N1virus na unang naitala ang pag-

kalat sa Lungsod ng Mexico sabansang Mexico.

Batay sa pahayag ng WHO,nasa stage five ngayon ang alertlevel. Ito ay nangangahulugan naang naunang tinawag na Mexicanswine flu ay nasa kalagayang pan-demic o nalilipat na ang sakit satao mula sa kapwa tao.

Batay sa bird flu preparednessplan, ang stage one alert ay na-ngangahulugan na wala pangbagong influenza virus na nadi-diskubre, at maliit pa ang

posibilidad na mahawa ang taomula sa hayop na pinagmu-mulan nito.

Ang stage two ay kapag may-roong bagong influenza virus na na-tuklasan sa hayop at posibleng ma-kahawa sa tao; samantalang angstage three kung mayroon nang taona nahawa mula sa hayop, ngunitwala pang tao na nahawa sa virusmula sa kapwa tao.

Ang stage four alert level aymayroon nang insidente na na-

sundan sa pahina 6

sa inilunsad na sa lalawigan ang “ubo-kabularyo” o ang praktikalpamamaraan ng pag-ubo.

Bukod dito, nakahanda rin angsistema ng Bulacan sa pagtugon sa mgaviral disease dahil matagumpay nitongnalampasan ang mga insidente ng avianinfluenza o bird flu noong 2005 at angebola reston virus nitong Enero.

Ayon kay Dr. Gomez, isang buwanbago kumalat ang sakit na Influenza AH1N1 sa bansang Mexico ay nailunsadna ang “ubokabularyo” bilang bahaging programa ng Bulacan public healthoffice laban sa pagkalat ng tuberculosis(TB).

sundan sa pahina 6

Ayon kay Dr. JoycelynGomez, public health of-ficer ng Bulacan, ang ka-handaan ng lalawigan aynagsimula noong Hulyo2005 kung kailan ay maynadiskubreng kaso ng“low pathogenic avian in-fluenza” o hindi naka-kahawang bird flu virus.

Ito ay nasundan pa samaagap na pagtugon nglalawigan sa kaso ng na-diskubreng ebola reston vi-rus (EVR) sa bayan ng Pan-di noong Disyembre sa

tulong ng Department ofHealth (DOH), Departmentof Agriculture (D.A.), WorldHealth Organization(WHO), Organization forWorld Aninal Health (OIE)at iba pa.

Bukod sa mga nasabingkaranasan sa mga viral dis-ease o mga sakit na hatidng virus, sinabi ni Dr. Go-mez sa Mabuhay na ini-lunsad nila noong Marso 17ang “Ubokabularyo” bilangbahagi ng kanilang prog-rama laban sa tuberculosis

(TB). Ang “Ubokabularyo” ay

ang mga praktikal na pama-maraan sa pag-ubo na itinu-turo ng panglalawigangtanggapang pangkalusuganupang hindi na makahawa.(Nasa ibaba ang kaugnay nabalita hinggil sa uboka-bularyo).

Ayon kay Gomez, angmga karanasan ng Bulacansa pagtugon sa mga katuladna viral disease ay mala-king bentahe sa pagtugon

sundan sa pahina 6

MULING tumanggap ng parangal na “Bestin Photojournalism”ang pahayagangMabuhay sa katatapos na 13th PhilippinePress Institute (PPI) Civic JournalismCommunity Press Awards kung saan ayhumakot ng parangal ang Sun.Star. Da-vao at pahayagang Balikas.

“Building Better Communitiesthrough Civic Journalism” ang tema ngparangal para sa mga pahayagang

pampamayanan simula sa taong ito.Ang nasabing parangal ay ginanap sa

Diamond Hotel Philippines sa Maynilabilang bahagi ng taunang pangkalahatangpagtitipon at National Press Forum ng mgapahayagang kasapi ng PPI na isinagawamula Abril 27 hanggang 28.

Ang nasabing pagtitipon, Forum atAwards ay sinuportahan ng The Coca-Cola

sundan sa pahina 6

Awards na isinagawa sa Diamond HotelPhilippines sa Maynila noong Abril 28.Nakamasid naman si Isagani Yambot,publisher ng Philippine Daily Inquirer. Ki-nabukasan sa pagtatapos ng atunangpagtitipon ng mga kasaping pahayaganng PPI, si Yambot ay nahalal bilang ba-gong tagapangulo at presidente. — BB

2 MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980 MAY 1 - 7, 2009

EDITORIALAlfredo M. Roxas, Jose Romulo Q. Pavia, Jose

Gerardo Q. Pavia, Joey N. Pavia , Jose Visitacion Q.

Pavia, Carminia L. Pavia, Perfecto Raymundo Jr.,

Dino Balabo

PRODUCTIONJose Antonio Q. Pavia, Jose Ricardo Q. Pavia,

Mark F. Mata, Maricel P. Dayag

PHOTOGRAPHY / ARTEden Uy, Allan Peñaredondo, Joseph Ryan S.

Pavia

BUSINESS / ADMINISTRATIONLoreto Q. Pavia, Marilyn L. Ramirez, Peñaflor Crystal,

J. Victorina P. Vergara, Cecile S. Pavia, Luis

Francisco, Domingo Ungria, Harold T. Raymundo,

Jennifer T. Raymundo, Rhoderick T. Raymundo

CIRCULATIONRobert T. Raymundo, Armando M. Arellano,

Jess Camaro, Fred Lopez

The Mabuhay is published weekly by the

MABUHAY COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES —

DTI Permit No. 00075266, March 6, 2006 to March

6, 2011, Malolos, Bulacan.

The Mabuhay is entered as Second Class Mail

Matter at the San Fernando, Pampanga Post Office

on April 30, 1987 under Permit No. 490; and as

Third Class Mail Matter at the Manila Central Post

Office under permit No. 1281-99-NCR dated Nov.

15, 1999. ISSN 1655-3853

Principal Office: 626 San Pascual, Obando,

Bulacan 294-8122

PPI-KAFCommunity Press

Awards

BestEdited Weekly2003 + 2008

Bestin Photojournalism1998 + 2005

A proud member of

PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTE

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MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980

Jose L. Pavia

Publisher/Editor

Perfecto V. Raymundo

Associate Editor

Anthony L. Pavia

Managing Editor

e-mail

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Buntot Pagé PERFECTO V. RAYMUNDO

Mayo, buwan ng mga kapistahanPAGPASOK pa lamang ng buwanng Mayo ay kabi-kabila na angkapistahan. Unang araw pa la-mang ng Mayo ay pista na sa Lawasa Obando.; kinamakalawahan oMayo 3 ay pista naman sa ba-rangay Paco sa Obando rin.

Pagsapit ng Mayo 14 ay pistanaman sa bayan ng Pulilan, kungsaan ay nagsisiluhod ang mgakalabaw kapag sila ay pinaluhodng mga may dala sa kanila habangsila ay nagpaparada sa lansangan.

Pagdating naman ng ika-17 ngMayo hanggang ika-18 at ika-19ay pista sa bayan ng Obando. AngObando ay may tatlong patron. Saika-17 ang kapistahan ni SanPascual Baylon, samantalangpagsapit ng ika-18 ay kapistahanni Santa Clara at sa ika-19 aykaarawan naman ni Señora DeSalambao.

Ang patrong San Pascual aynakalagi sa tahanan ni G.Nemencio Raymundo sa BarangayQuebadia, na ngayo’y San Pascual.

Maraming mag-asawang hindimagkaanak ang nagsisipagsayawkapag kapistahan ni Santa Clarasa kanilang paniwala na sila aymapagkakalooban ng anak kapagsila ay nagsayaw sa Obando sa

kapistahan ni Santa Clara.Hindi ba mayroong kanta

na “Sta. Clarang pinung-pino,kami po ay bigyan mo ng anak nalabingtatlo…..”

Isang patotoo ang pagkakaroonngayon ng dalawang anak nina G.at Gng. Germiniano Avendaño ngSan Pascual, Obando, na mataposang 13 taong pagsasama na hindimagkaanak ay namanata sila kaySanta Clara at sila ay nabiyayaanng dalawang malulusog na anak nangayo’y mga binata’t dalaga na.

May dugong BulakenyoMAY dugong Bulakenyo pala sinaJose P. Rizal, Manuel L. Quezon,Corazon C. Aquino at FernandoPoe Jr.

Ang lola pala sa talampakanni Rizal na si Maria Florentina aytubong Baliuag. Ibig sabihin maydugo ring Bulakenyo angpambansang bayani.

Maging si dating PangulongQuezon ay may dugong Bulakenyodahil ang kanyang ina na si MariaDolores Molina na anak ninaAlejandro Molina at PetronaManahan ay taga Bulakan,Bulacan.

Ang ama ni dating Pangulong

Cory Aquino na si Jose ConjuangcoSr. ay tubong Malolos, na ang mgamagulang ay sina MelencioEstrella Cojuangco at Tecla Valen-zuela. Katunayan nakatayo pa rinang bahay ni Cojuangco sa katapathalos ng simbahan ng Barasoain.

Maging si Fernando Poe Jr.na anak nina Fernando Poe Sr. atBessie Gatbonton Kelley, na anaknaman ni Martha Gatbonton aytaga-Calumpit, Bulacan.Dapatpala tawagin ang Bulacan, nabayan ng mga bayani.

Kayo, ano ang say ninyo?

Nanariwa pagsapit ng MayoNGAYONG sumapit na ang bu-wan ng Mayo, muling nanariwasa aking alaala ang masayangbirthday ng aking ina, tuwingsasapit ang ika-4 ng Mayo.

Palagi siyang may masarap napagkain para sa aming mag-kakapatid. Dahil mahirap lamangkami, sinigang na manok sausbong ng sampalok ang laginiyang inihahanda kapag birth-day niya.

Ngayong sasapit na ang ika-4ng Mayo ay 99 na taon na siyakung siya ay nabubuhay. HAPPYBIRTHDAY, INANG!

MALAPIT nang kumagat angdilim nang makarating ako sabahay noong Miyerkoles, Abril 29mula sa Diamond Hotel sa May-nila kung saan isinagawa angtatlong araw na pangkalahatangpagtitipon ng mga kasapingpahayagan ng Philippine PressInstitute (PPI).

Tampok sa tatlong araw napagtitipon ang taunang NationalPress Forum at Press Awards oang prestisyosong pagkilala naipinagkakaloob sa mga pam-pamayanang pahayagan katuladng Mabuhay.

Baha sa tapat ng bahay naminng oras na iyon dahil sa high tidekaya naghubad pa ako ng sapatosbago makapasok sa bahay.

Matapos kong ibaba ang akingmga bag na dala ay nilapitan koang aking panganay na supling nasi Bethany Eirene sa kanyang

Promdi DINO BALABO

Anak, nanalo na naman ang Mabuhayhigaan at hinalikan.

“Daddy,” ang nakangitingngunit mahinang sabi niya.

“Anak, nanalo na naman angMabuhay,” ang pasalubong nakuwento ko kay Bethany Eirenehabang ibinabangon ko siya.

Ito ay patungkol sa parangalna “Best in Photojournalism” nanakamit ng pahayagang Ma-buhay sa katatapos na 13th PPICivic Journalism CommunityPress Awards noong Martes nggabi, Abril 28.

Ang totoo, nai-text ko na saaking maybahay na si Joyce angmuling pagwawagi ng Mabuhaynoong gabing iyon.

Sabi ko kay misis, “gud p.m.hon, nanalo uli ang Mabuhay.Please tell Bethany, nanalo uli angMabuhay ng Best in Photojour-nalism.”

Ang muling pagwawagi ng

Mabuhay ng Best in Photojour-nalism ay ikatlo na. Unang na-tanggap ng Mabuhay ang pa-rangal noong 1996 at nasundannoong 2005.

Natanggap naman ng Mabu-hay ang “Best Edited Paper” sataong 2003 at 2007.

Magkukuwento pa sana akokay Bethany ng hanapin niya angipinagbilin niyang pasalubong.

“Jabee, Daddy?” ang sabi niyahabang ang mga mata ay parangnagtatanong sa akin. “Jabee’ angtawag ni Bethany Eirene saJolibee dahil kulang pa ang mgapantig sa kanyang pananalita.

“Heto ang pasalubong ngDaddy mo,” ani naman ni misishabang iniaabot kay BethanyEirene ang supot ng Jolibee.

Pagka-abot, nagyaya na siya saharap ng telebisyon at habang na-

sundan sa pahina 7

Kastigo BIENVENIDO A. RAMOS

Prerogative, command responsibilityLAHAT ng karapatan at kapang-yarihan, maging ng Punong Taga-pag-paganap ng bansa, ay maykalakip na PANANAGUTAN oresponsabilidad. Iyan ang prin-sipyong naging tatak na ng de-mokrasya na tinatawag na “checkand balance.”

Kaya hindi katwiran ang lagingsinasabi ng mga Goebbels atRasputin-a ng Malakanyang na“prerogative” ni GMA na pata-warin ang mga nahatulan nangmalalaking kriminal, tulad ngmagkapatid na Manero (pumataykay Padre Favalli, at umano’ykumain pa sa lamanloob ngnasabing pari); dating PresidentJoseph Estrada (na ang inaaminlang na dinambong ay ang sajueteng); at ang 19 na sundalongnahatulang pataksil na pumataykay Ninoy Aquino.

Kung “presidential preroga-tive” man ito ng Pangulong GloriaMacapagal-Arroyo, maypananagutan pa rin si GMA — sabatas at sa hustisya, kungtutuusin. Ang mga pinatawad niGMA ay karamihang nahatulan ngparusang dalawang habambuhayna pagkabilanggo—pero upangmapalusutan ang hatol ng korte,

ibinababa muna ni GMA ang habang pagkabilanggo, irerekomendanaman ng Lupon sa Pardon at Pa-role na pagkalooban na ng Pata-wad ng Pangulo ang maim-pluwensiyang convict.

Hindi kaya naiisip ni GMA, nabaka tulad ng ilang mahistradosa Hukuman sa Paghahabol o saKorte Suprema, ang mga mi-yembro ng Board of Pardon andParole ay nasuhulan din ng mgainirerekomenda nilang bigyan ngPresidential pardon?

Pagkiling ni GMA sa kriminalMARAMI na at iba-ibang sektorng lipunan ang pumapansin sa tilapagkiling ni Gng. Macapagal-Ar-royo sa mga kriminal o mgagumagawa ng paglabag sa batas,nalitis ma’t nahatulan nghukuman o hindi. Kaya maramiang naiiling na lamang kungsinasabi ng mga ‘apologist’ niGMA—na hindi nakikialam siAling Gloria sa mga gawain nghudikatura, Comelec, Kongreso atiba pang tanggapan o ahensiya nggobyerno na, anila’y, malaya

At may kahiwalay na ka-pangyarihan. Patutsada pa ng mgasipsip na tambolero (drumbeater

na bolero o bolera), huwag dawhaluan ng pulitika ang ano mangpagpuna o pagkastigo sa mgaginagawa o desisyon ni AlingGloria.

Pero maliwanag na si GMA angnamumulitika—may tagong pa-mumulitika ang pagpapatawadniya sa malalaking kriminal; maypulitika pati sa paghirang niya ngmga mahistrado, paghahalal ngpamununuan ng Kamara at Se-nado, at iba pang constitutionalentity.

Ang pag-abswelto ng Court ofAppeals kay Lance Cpl. DanielSmith, kasunod ng bantilawangpagbawi umano ni “Nicole” saunang pahayag nito—ay isangmakinis na maneobrang diniriheng Malakanyang—kaugnay ngbiglang pagtatawag ni U.S. Pres.Barak Obama kay GMA.

Sa pagtutuos, kahit anongpagtanggi, pagkakaila, at pag-sisinungaling ang gawin ng Mala-kanyang na wala itong kinalamansa pagpapalaya kay Smith, nahindi ito gumamit ng pressure samga desisiyon ng Court of Ap-peals o ng Korte Suprema, Co-melec at iba pangconstitutional

sundan sa pahina 4

EDITORYAL

KalinisanIKINABAHALA ng mundo ang mabilisang pagkalat ngInfluenza A H1N1 virus mula sa bansang Mexico noongnakaraang linggo dahil sa naging dahilan ito angpagkamatay ng may 20 katao.

Halos isang linggo lamang ang nakalipas aynakarating na sa Hongkong ang nasabing virus, ngunitnananatili pa ring ligtas ang Pilipinas.

Gayunpaman, hindi nagpabaya ang mga opisyal atagad na pinabantayan ang mga paliparan at daungan namaaring daanan ng mga taong nahawahan ng nasabinginfluenza virus.

Ayon sa Department of Health (DOH), may naka-handang gamot ang bansa laban sa Influenza A H1N1,ngunit ayon sa opisyal ng kalusugan sa Bulacan, walapang ipinahahatid na gamot sa kanila ang DOH.

Dahil dito, ipinayo ng mga Bulakenyong doktor angpagpanatili ng personal na kalinisan at nagbigay ng mgapraktikal na payo sa tamang pag-ubo na tinaguriang“ubokabularyo.”

Ayon sa mga doktor, dapat ay laging maghugas ngkamay ang bawat isa at ipinayo nila ang pagkain ng mgamga prutas at ang regular na ehersisyo, dahilnagpapalakas ito ng katawan ng tao. Ipinaalala rin nilaang pag-iwas sa pag-inom ng alak at paninigarilyo nanagpapahina sa resistensya.

Ayon naman sa “ubokabularyo”, mas makabubutingmagtakip ng panyo sa bibig kung uubo, o kaya ay saloob at manggas ng damit. Bukod dito, ipinayo rin angregular na paghuhugas ng kamay.

Totoo, simple at praktikal ang mga payo ng mgadoktor. Ito ay dapat sundin ng bawat isa upang makaiwashindi lamang sa kinatatakutang Influenza A H1N1 virus,kundi maging sa iba pang sakit katulad ngpangkaraniwang sipon, lagnat, trangkaso, tuberculosisat iba pa.

Hindi biro ang magkasakit sa panahong ito. Magastosat delikado.

Isabuhay natin ang kalinisan. Ito ang susi sa malusogna pangangatawan matatag na pamayanan. Ugaliin angpaghuhugas ng kamay at sundin ang praktikal na payong “ubokabularyo.”

Tagumpay ng MabuhayMULING tumanggap ang pahayagang Mabuhay ngparangal na “Best in Photojournalism” sa katatapos naPhilippine Press Institute (PPI) Civic Journalism Com-munity Press Awards na isinagawa sa Diamond HotelPhilippines noong Abril, 28.

sundan sa pahina 6

MAY 1 - 7, 2009 MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980 3

Depthnews JUAN L. MERCADO

Persistent joke

Regarding Henry

HENRYLITO D. TACIO

Cebu Calling FR. ROY CIMAGALA

Work and rest

“THE pig, though it has a splithoof completely divided, does notchew the cud; it is unclean for you.You must not eat their meat ortouch their carcasses; they areunclean for you.”

This statement, taken from theBible (Leviticus 11:7-8), comes tomind as the world watches theoutbreak of swine influenzaamong humans in the Mexico andthe United States. More than 100Mexicans have been reported tohave died.

In New Zealand, twenty-fivestudents and teachers, some withflu-like symptoms, were quaran-tined and tested for swine flu af-ter returning from a trip toMexico. In London, a British Air-ways cabin crew member wastaken to the hospital as a precau-tion after developing flu-likesymptoms on a flight from MexicoCity.

The Geneva-based WorldHealth Organization (WHO) re-ported that some of those whodied are confirmed to have aunique strain of flu virus that is acombination of bird, pig and hu-man viruses. Because of this, theUN health agency declared theoutbreak as a “public healthemergency of international con-cern.”

WHO Director-General Dr.Margaret Chan admitted the out-break “has pandemic potential”because it is apparently beingtransmitted from human to hu-man. But she added it is far tooearly to predict whether a pan-demic will occur. Pandemic hap-pens when the virus is spread allover the world.

At the U.S. Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC) inAtlanta, Georgia, Dr. AnneSchuchat said containment of theoutbreak was “not feasible.” Asshe told reporters in a telephonenews conference, “Having foundthe virus where we have found it,we are likely to find it in many

more places. It is clear that this iswidespread, which is why we donot think we can contain spreadof this virus.”

In the Philippines, the govern-ment is doing its best to preventa domestic outbreak of swine flu.As the virus could be spread byinfected traveler, the Manila In-ternational Airport Authoritystepped up the monitoring of in-coming passengers. Air travelerswith fevers who have been toMexico may be quarantined. “To-gether with other airport authori-ties abroad, we are heeding thecall of the World Health Organi-zation,” said Herminia Castillo,the international airport’s officer-in-charge.

In addition, the governmenthas already banned the import ofhogs and all other pork productsfrom the US, which accounted for27 percent of the 109.36 millionkilograms of pork products im-ported last year. Mexico is not amajor source of pork products forthe country.

Pork and pork products sold inthe market are safe to eat as noswine flu outbreak has been re-ported in the country yet, accord-ing to the Bureau of Animal In-dustry. In addition, swine-flu vi-ruses are not transmitted by food,according to the CDC.

“So you cannot get swine flufrom eating pork or pork prod-ucts,” said the National Federa-tion of Hog Farmers Inc. in a state-ment. “Eating properly handledand cooked pork or pork productsis safe. Cooking pork to an inter-nal temperature of 160°F kills allviruses and other foodbornepathogens.”

The Department of Healthconfirmed that there is no case ofswine flu yet in the country.“However, we advise the publicto still observe any preventivemeasures to avoid contraction ofthe virus,” Health Secretary Fran-

continued on page 7

Swine flu: A pandemic?“THERE’S a persistent rumorthat we’ll have elections in 2010,”This wisecrack ricochets fromnewsrooms to kapihans. With-out fail, the joke triggers cynicallaughter. It stems from propos-als for self-serving charter change(cha-cha) to dark predictions ofmartial law.

Jokes often reflect our deep-est fears. We learned that inWorld War II. We used laughter,as a weapon, against the Marcosdictatorship. And 43 editors fo-cused on these concerns at thePhilippine Press Institute’s an-nual assembly,”

“Will there be presidentialelections?,” they asked the key-note speaker: former electionscommission chair ChristianMonsod. “If so, will they be freeand fair?”

The questions reflect concernover stressed democratic insti-tutions. The annual survey ofFreedom House, for example,tracked liberty’s retreat fromRussia and much of Sub-SaharanAfrica. In Asia, the Philippineshas slid back. “It is no longer con-sidered an electoral democracy,”

the report says.. Our ranking is“only partly free…

…Both history and studiesconclude people won’t stand“any attempt by this adminis-tration to abort the elections…orchange to a parliamentary sys-tem,” Monsod said with signaturebluntness. Majority would “voteagainst it in the unlikely event ofa plebiscite.”…

‘Protests would be more in-tense if martial law were de-clared. “It’d be outrageous tomanufacture a foreign invasionor a nationwide rebellion.” Thesetwo are the only remaining ba-sis, in the constitution, for clamp-ing on rule by bayonets.

A failed election and acarryover of present leaderswould be “phyrric and shortlived”, he said.. That scenariocan not circumvent an electionto decide on a successor.

“Every president, in the recentpast, who thought about stayinglonger realized, in the end, thatit was not worth the politicalturbulence or the risk to his per-son.”

Ferdinand Marcos did not send

troops to Edsa. Fidel Ramosabandoned attempts to removeterm limits. Joseph Estrada leftMalacanang. And “PresidentArroyo can choose to step downon June 30, 2010, graciously”

….. People in power and thosewho want their turn at ii” maymiss important signals being sentby the people.. Studies like Phil-ippine Democracy Assessmentdocument these “signals”.

“There is a significant alien-ation and distrust in the electo-rial process and it’s administra-tors” (Like Bejamin Abalos orVirgilio Garciallano?)… Nonethe-less, peoples still prefer electionsas the best way to choose theirleaders.

They spurn options like mili-tary takeover, revolutionary gov-ernment, people power uprisingor self-serving constitutionalchange.. They are wary and wearyof political experimentation

People voted out entrenchedfamily dynasties in Pampanga,Abra, Masbate, Nueva Ecija,Cavite and Isabel. The vote inthe senate didn’t show any corre-

continued on page 7

A YOUNG friend of mine, who isa wizard on the computer andmore so on the piano and organ,told me once about his amusingexperience while training for hiswork in Japan.

We, of course, know that theJapanese have a high standard inwork ethic. Their danger often isto overwork. Ours seems to be tounderwork.

Because of certain reasons, thisfriend could not afford to staylater than 5 o’clock. This is a no-no in Japanese offices. No oneleaves before the bosses, and thebosses usually leave already latein the evening.

So he explained his predica-ment to his boss, who grudginglyapproved. But he was made to gothrough a certain routine. Whenhe had to leave, he should standby the door and then say:

“Osaki ni shitsureishimasu.”(Sorry! I have to leave now aheadof you.)

Then the other Japaneseofficemates would say:“Otsukaresamadeshita.” (Youmay leave! You worked hard al-ready.)

It seems that’s how the Japa-nese take their work seriously. Ican only hope that we Filipinosimprove in our work habits. Whilewe can find many who work hard,with order, discipline and effec-tiveness and efficiency blendedwell, we can also find still manyothers who are simply goingaround in circles.

Work is part of our nature. It isnot a punishment nor a dutyforced on us because of certain cir-cumstances. We are meant towork. We are designed to work.We have been born to work just asthe birds were born to fly. It’s notour invention.

Besides, our faith teaches usthat work is a path to holiness. Itis a participation in God’s con-tinuing work in his whole cre-ation. When we work, we touchGod, and we get involved in thethings of God. It can only be donein God’s way, that is, out of loveand for love.

Our work perfects us, as it oc-casions the development of manyvirtues. It can’t help but contrib-ute to the common good. In fact,everything we need and ought to

be involves work. Our work fos-ters socialization. It destroys iso-lation.

This, as long as we work withGod and for God. Any kind ofwork, be it sublime or lowly, aslong as it is honorable, not sinful,is always pleasing to God and isin fact working with God.

It’s high time that we developa theological attitude toward ourwork. We should not remain in theshallow part. Though we alreadyhave good work habits, we shouldnot get contented with them, butrather continue to improve, pu-rify and enrich them by alwaysworking with greater love for Godand for others.

Of course, if we work hard, thenwe also need to rest. In the hu-man level, work and rest can con-stitute a symbiotic relationship.But when related to our spiritualand supernatural destiny, weneed to understand that rest ac-quires a special meaning.

Our Christian faith teachesthat rest is not just a physical orbodily need, or a way to recoverstrength, physical, mental, psy-

continued on page 4

THE two friends came out of theclassroom after their last finalexam. Both were eager to startoff with summer vacation. Sal,who happened to be the aspiringvaledictorian of the class, sighedwith relief. “Now that we’re donewith that, it’s time for unlimitedgaming, music and partying!”

Chris, Sal’s best friend the as-piring salutatorian, remarked,“Yup! But this summer’s goin’to be a bit different for me.”

“What do you mean?” Sal gavehim a puzzled look.

“Oh, nothin’, really. I justthought that I could give myselfsomething more by giving gam-ing, music and partying a moreproductive direction.”

“Geez, dude! You’veoverwired your brains. Produc-tive direction? Hey, where did youpick that jargon from?”

“I’m sorry, Sal,” he said. “Ididn’t mean to ruin your sum-

mer with my plans.”“Hey, apologizing without

even tellin’ your friend howyou’ve even offended him?” Salsmirked jokingly at his friend.

“Alright, you have a pointthere. Okay, I’m not apologiz-ing,” he said.

“Hey, no changin’ tactics,dude! Stick to your arguments!So what’ll they be?”

“You see, I’ve been seeing agood friend of mine and …,”

“Whoa! It must’ve been thatgirl at the party. I bet you wouldhave been valedictorian dude, ifyou weren’t distracted with her!”he teased Chris.

“Ah, right…but it’s not thegirl, Sal!” Chris smiled. “It’s apriest.”

“Way to go, Chris! I didn’tknow you had plans of becominga priest. Okay, then I’m going tobe a politician!” Sal chuckled ashe gave Chris a pat on the back.

“That’s not what I meant,Sal.” Chris’ tone became a littlemore serious as they both satthemselves in one of the ricketybenches of the school grounds.

“So tell me about it, dude. I’mall ears for this mystical stuff.”

“Sheesh, dude. It aintnuthin’g like that.”

“So what is it about then,” Salshrugged his shoulders.

“It’s not only about gettingthe right directions, but themore productive and fruitfulone,” Chris began explain as hewiped the sweat from his brow.

“Duh? Wuz I suppose to digall that Greek, dude?”

“Okay, it’s simply about get-ting a good grip of my life andstirring it where I want to go.”

“Now we’re talking. So youwant to become a priest, and I’mgoing to be president one day.”

“Okay, I’ll follow your tail. So continued on page 4

Forward to Basics FR. FRANCIS B. ONGKINGCO

Where are you headed?

TO some extent, it could alreadybe said that the white Americanshave already paid their historicaland cultural debts to the nativeAmerican Indians, as they havegiven the Indians the means topractically become self-sufficientin their own Indian reservations,with their own means of liveli-hood. Perhaps we could not yetsay the same thing in the Philip-pines , because until now, our in-digenous peoples are still livingmiserable lives in places wherethey still live together in tribalcommunities.

Perhaps as a consolation to our-selves, we could at least say thatthe legal basis to make self-suffi-ciency possible for our indigenouspeoples already exists, thanks tothe Indigenous People’s Repub-lic Act (IPRA), a bill that was spon-sored by former CongressmanRonald Cosalan and is now partof the law of the land. Ronnie wasimminently qualified to sponsorthe law, being himself a memberof a northern tribe and being for-merly the head of what is now theNational Commission for Indig-enous Peoples (NCIP).

Sad to say however, up to nowthe IPRA is just as good as a di-ploma on a wall to a college gradu-ate who is unable to find a job. Upto now, our indigenous peoplesstill have to enjoy the benefits

Fair & Square

IKE SEÑERES

Showcase of self-sufficiencythat the IPRA promises, furthercompounded by the fact that thereis no law that could stop the greedof the people who continue to ex-ploit them.

Thanks to Divine Providence,I was fortunate to have met DatuDidilusan Arroyo, the SupremeDatu of the Talaandig tribe inBukidnon. The good news is thatthey have already secured theirlegal titles to their ancestral do-mains, consisting of 200 hectaresin Cabalansihan, Sinuda and 35hectares in Talakag,Pangantukan, both in Bukidnon.Datu Didilusan was introduced tome by my friend Ric Abian, aMoslem convert and a former As-semblyman who is now activelyhelping the indigenous peoples inMindanao , the Talaandig tribeincluded.

My meeting with Datu Arroyowas providential, but it was re-ally bound to happen as Ric hadreally wanted us to meet, thethree of us being fellow Directorsof the Halal Foundation of thePhilippines .

I am proud to say that I amthe only Christian in the Founda-tion. The Halal Foundation has adream, and I share that dreamwith them. We want to establisha sustainable source of livelihoodfor the Talaandig people by turn

continued on page 7

4 MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980 MAY 1 - 7, 2009

Buhay Pinoy

MANDY CENTENO

Agapay sa barangayAng kapayapaan at ang kaayusanLubhang mahalaga, sa ‘ting pamayananAng programa nitong, Punong LalawiganPag-iibayuhin, “Agapay sa Barangay.”

Sang-ayon sa kay Gob. Jonjon R. MendozaAng Barangay Tanod, lubhang mahalagaSa pagpapatupad, “peace and order” t’wina“Specialized training” kailangan nila.

Upang maragdagan, kaalaman nitoMay dalawang araw, pagsasanay ditoAng hepe ng tanod at tagapanguloPeace and order grupo, ang mga dadalo.

Sa pagpapatupad,ng nasabing layonAng pagsasanayan, “basic investigation”Mga “police matters, radio communication”At iba pang paksang mahalaga ngayon.

Mga dalubhasa, ang tagapagsanaySilas ay opisyal, na panlalawiganMula DILG, PNP. NGO manBinubuo’y “mobile training group” na tunay.

Ang lahat ng bayan, pupuntahan nilaMismong sa barangay, ang pagsasanay paAng mga lalahok, walang magagastaDagdag kaalaman, ukol sa kanila.

Batay sa pahayag ni Governor JonjonTanod na masipag sa tungkulin ngayonMyro’ng benepisyong tatanggapin iyonNa sa pagsasanay, mabuti ang layon.

Ang mga “frontliners” na Tanod BarangaySa kriminalidad, unang lumalabanMga terorismo, gawaing ilegalNakahanda sila, matapos magsanay.

“Five hundred sixty nine” na barangay ditoAng sasailalim, sa training na itoSila at tatanggap, mga benepisyoSabi ni Gob. Jonjon, ito’y sigurado.

Napapanahon LINDA R. PACIS

Pagkakawanggawa walang katapusan

Kakampi mo ang Batas ATTY. BATAS MAURICIO

Mga bagong party list repsANG mga bagong party list repre-sentatives ay hindi dapat itinu-turing na pabigat sa bayan sapagkatang kanilang pagkakaluklok ayitinakda ng Saligang Batas ng 1987mismo.

Ito ang pahayag kahapon ni Atty.Batas Mauricio, ang first nomineeng BATAS Party List o ang BagongAlyansang Tagapagtaguyod ng Adh-ikaing Sambayanan, sa pamama-gitan ng isang press statement.

Batay sa desisyon ng Korte Sup-rema na isinulat ni Associate Jus-tice Antonio Carpio, kinilala angpanalo ng BATAS Party List, atbinigyan pa ito ng dalawang kong-resista.

Ang press statement ng BATASParty List:

“Madaling intindihin ng ma-rami ang pahayag ni ArchbishopAngel Lagdameo, ang pangulo ngCatholic Bishop’s Conference of thePhilippines, na ang mga bagongproklamadong party list represen-

tatives ay magiging pabigat lamangsa sambayanan, pero ito ay taliwassa katotohanan.

“Ang mga bagong party list con-gressmen ay hindi kailanman dapatituring na pabigat, sapagkat angkanilang mga posisyon bilang mgakasapi ng House of Representativesay itinakda mismo ng SaligangBatas ng 1987, na nagsasabingmayroon dapat mga party list con-gressmen sa House na ang bilang ay20 porsiyento ng mga kongresistasa mga distrito.

“Dahil diyan, masasabi natin naang paglululok sa mga party listcongressmen sa Kongreso ay hindimagiging pabigat sa sinuman, sa-pagkat itinatampok nito ang dok-trina sa batas na nagsasabing“maningning ang batas”—na angibig sabihin naman nito ay ito:komo tayo ay isang bansang nagpa-pasakop sa batas (ke tama man itoo hindi), kailangan nating sumunodsa batas bagamat iniisip nating

hindi ito tama.“Ang pagsunod sa mga batas ng

tao ay isang doktrinang masusingisinusulong hindi lamang ng mgabatas ng tao, dahil na rin saprinsipyong tinatawag na “dura lex,sed lex” (o, mabalasik man angbatas pero dapat pa din itongsundin), kundi pati na ng Banal naBibliya.

“Sa napakaraming bahagi nito,kasama ng Roma 13:1-2, sinasabing Bibliya na ang obligasyongsumunod sa batas at sa mga auto-ridad ay ipinangangalandakan.

“Ganito ang sinasabi ng mgabahaging ito: `Ang lahat ay dapatsumunod sa mga namumunongautoridad, sapagkat walang auto-ridad na hindi itinatag ng Diyos.Ang mga autoridad ay itinatag ngDiyos. Dahil diyan, ang sinumanglumalaban sa mga autoridad aylumalaban sa mga itinakda ngDiyos, at ang mga gumagawa nitoay parurusahan…’

chological, emotional, etc. Christian rest, of course, in-volves all of these, but it is still a lot more.

It means the fullness of our life, the reaching of ourfinal destination, the coronation of our work. It is a sym-bol of our eternal rest where we enjoy communion bothwith God and with everybody else.

Ask ourselvesIt would be good to ask ourselves if we are consciously

developing this mindset regarding our rest, especiallywhen we go to bed at the end of the day, or when weapproach Sunday, which is supposed to be not only theday of the Lord, but also the day of rest.

We have to be aware of the spiritual and supernaturaldimension of our rest, and to form the appropriate atti-tudes and habits. In our Christian life, we have to under-stand that our attitude towards rest needs to be workedout.

Attitude toward restThe Christian attitude toward rest just can’t come

out spontaneously. God’s grace always needs our coopera-tion. We have to reach that point when we can sincerelyecho St. Augustine’s words:

“Lord, my heart is restless until it rests in you.”We have to learn how to rest in God. Resting cannot

and should not have any other mode than to rest in Godalways!

body, wala nang Pilipino o dayuhan mang naniniwala omaniniwala kay GMA.

Dahil hindi na miminsang napatunayan angpagiging sinungaling, mapanlinlang ng Administrasyongito na gumagawa ng lahat ng paraan, legal o ilegal, upangmapalawig pa sa kapangyarihan si GMA—at makaiwas sapag-uusig sa kanyang maraming kasalanan—kung siya ayhindi na Pangulo.

I’m the priest andyou’re president. But Mr.President, I don’t want tobecome a priest only forthat reason. I want to beone in order to go toHeaven.”

“Hey, that’s not fair,dude!”

“Mr. President, Ithought you wanted to goto Heaven?”

“Not fair! That’s not fol-lowing the original argu-ment, Mr. Senator!”

“Of course it does, so Mr.President doesn’t care?”Chris raised an eyebrow atSal.

“Okay, so you win. Ofcourse I want to go toHeaven,” Sal humbly ad-mitted.

“So what are you doing,Mr. President, to go toHeaven?”

“Well, to start with Iguess, ah… try to live thecommandments…,” Salsaid scratching his head.

“But this is notenough!” Chris said.

“Hey, I want to be presi-dent and not a priest!” Salprotested.

“I know,” Chris laughed.“But, just following thecommandments isn’t

enough either for a priest.Every Christian whowishes to further enrich hisspiritual life and be fruit-ful must do so by receivingconstant and effective di-rection.”

“Even priests?” Sal saidquite surprised.

“Yes, even priests andmuch more presidents,”Chris smiled observing hisfriend’s consternation.

“And what is one sup-posed to talk about?”

“The most relevantpoints regarding your lifeof prayer – how to talk toour Lord, what He tells you

and your resolutions; thespiritual reading or re-sources – you consult to en-rich your spiritual life; yoursacramental life – knowl-edge and refinement in liv-ing the sacraments, (i.e. es-pecially the Mass and Con-fession); how you live theChristian virtues in rela-tion to your family, friends,work and rest; a particularpoint in your spiritual lifeyou want to improve on;and how you share yourfaith with others.

“Isn’t that quite a lot todiscuss?” Sal asked.

“Not really, Mr. Presi-

dent. There’s no need tobring everything up. Sim-ply prepare things before-hand in prayer. Note themost relevant things youwish to take up.”

“How frequently shouldone go?”

“It’s important to beregular, no less thanmonthly, perhaps weeklyor biweekly.”

“What do I do after-wards?”

“For lasting and fruitfuleffects, it would be good tolisten and be docile to theadvice you’re given; jotdown concrete resolutions;

bring them to prayer; seehow you can best live themin everyday life; and followthem up in your next chatwith the priest and/or afriend whom you knowlives a committed Chris-tian life, by giving him anidea of how you lived yourresolutions.”

“Wow! With all that, I’mtaking back what I’vesaid,” Sal said.

“What? Spiritual direc-tion?” Chris asked a bit con-fused.

“No, about becomingpresident,” Sal laughedheartily.

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Forward to Basics continued from page 3

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Kastigo mula sa pahina 2

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Cebu Calling continued from page 3

MULA noong 1998, ang PhilippineCharity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO)sa Bulacan ay isang institusyon nanagbibigay ng tulong araw-araw samga mahihirap. Ayon kay Lolito O.Guemo, Chief Lottery OperationsOfficer ng Bulacan Provincial DistrictOffice ng PCSO, sa Lungsod ngMalolos ang kanilang daily averagena tinutulungan at ang pondo aykinukuha sa Medical Assistance Pro-gram Fund na P1.5 milyon kadabuwan.

“Ito ay nauubos,” sabi ni Guemo.Ang sinasabing tulong ay sa pama-

magitan ng 1) hospitalization, 2)chemotheraphy, 3) dialysis at 4) medi-cines for treatment. Sa hospitaliza-tion, sakop ang lahat ng ospital saBulacan ngunit di kasama ang bayadsa mga doctor at sa kuwarto.

Si Guemo, 46, ay ipinanganak saMaynila ngunit talagang lahing Bicol.Ang kanyang ama ay taga Bacon,Sorsogon at taga-Guinobatan, Albayang kanyang nanay. Kasal siya kayIrma Guemo ng Libon, Albay at maydalawang anak, si Louie Jerome, 16,at Jeffrey Isaac, 15.

Nagtapos si Guemo ng accoun-tancy sa Technological Institute ofthe Philippines (TIP) at Master inadministration sa Laguna Northwest-ern College. Naging accounting clerksiya sa opisina sa Marikina at sa Phil-ippine Tuberculosis Society at ac-countant sa Peak Sun Group of Com-panies cement firm.

Ayon kay Guemo, sa PCSO ayhindi kailangan ang rekomendasyono sulat ng politician.

“Ang pasyente ay puedeng magwalk-in lang,” paliwanag niya.

Sa taong 2008, ang kabuuanghalagang naipamigay nila ayP10,521,992.10 Pinakamataasnoong buwan ng Pebrero,P1,178,831.49; at pinakamababanoong Mayo, P491,058.11.

Katulong niya sa pagpapalakad ngopisina ng PCSO sina Hilda B.Sangalang, SL001, Byron Joseph B.

Bumanglang, acting SL002 at RodelC. Auaterol, cashier II.

Mahal na Araw sa GuiguintoGUIGUINTO, Bulacan — Angprusisyon sa paglilibing kay Jesusnoong Biyernes Santo ay kakaiba saParokya ni San Ildefonso dahil haloslahat ng prusisyon ay bumabalik sasimbahan, samantalang sa Guiguinto,may ibang lugar na pinaglilibingan.Ngayong taon ito, sa munisipyoginanap ang paglilibing kung saaniginawa ng libingan si Kristo, sa gymng munisipyo. Noong mga nakaraangtaon ay sa iba’t ibang barangayginanap ang paglilibing.

Iniwanan ang Sto. Entierro sa loobng libingan habang ang mga umiilawsa prusisyon ay panay nakasuot ngputi at itim parang talagangnakikipag-libing. Binibigyang diinnito ang tradisyunal na paglilibingng mga Pilipino.

Nauna ang bangkay kasunod angmga naulila at mga nakikiramay sanamatayan. Sumusunod naman sakanila ang mga karo na nagpapakitang mahahalagang tagpo sa buhay ngPanginoon bago siya namatay sa Krus.

Labing-apat ang mga karo gaya ngsumusunod: 1) Santo Entiero, 2)Mater Dolorosa, 3) San Juan, 4) Sta.Maria Magdalena, 5) Sta. MariaSalome, 6) Sta. Maria Cleofas, 7) Sta.Veronica, 8) San Pedro, 9) SantiagoEl Mayor, 10) San Judas Tadeo, 11)Ang Pamamaalam ni Jesus sakanyang Ina 12) Panalangin saHalamanan ng Getsemani 13) AngPagpapasan ng Krus ni JesusNazareno, at 14) Sto. Kristo.

Nakasabay ko sa pag-ilaw si Sis-ter Wilma Juan, co-chair ng ParishPastoral Council ng Parokya ni sanIldefonso at kasamahan din naminsa Brotherhood of Christian Busi-nessmen and Professionals.

Ulo ni San bernabeSa Barangay Malis, Guiguinto, ang

kapilya ay isa sa unang dalawang

simbahan sa Bulacan na itinayo ngmga Kastilang Prayle noong 15thcentury. Naipagawa ang lumangbisita sa pamamagitan ng mgadonasyon. Kahit mga taga-ibanglugar sa buong Bulacan ay nagbibigayat kahit ilang beses bumalik ay tuloydin ang pagbibigay sa bisita.

Ayon sa kuwento ni LourdesValero, vice president ng Sub-ParishPastoral Council (SPPC) ng Malis,mayroon silang iniingatang putol naulo ni San Bernabe at ito ay parangnagdadala sa kanila ng mga himala.Kung magpuprusisyon at umuulan,humihinto ang ulan, at halos lahatng pinangarap nila ay natutupad,gaya ng pagpapagawa at renovationng bisita.

Nagsimulang ipagawa angsimbahan noong 2007 at tumagal sabuong 2008. Ang blessing ay ginanapnoong Marso 22, 2009. Noong Mahalna araw, nagdaos ang SPPC ng pabasasa pakikipagtulungan ng mga taga-Malis. Maraming Katoliko sa ba-rangay.

Bukod kay Valerio, ang iba pangopisyal ng SPPC ay sina Konsehal AlEstrella, president; LornaGatmaitan, secretary; Irenea Fran-cisco, treasurer; at Reynaldo Rivera,adviser.

Sa kuwento ni Valerio, nakuha angulo ni San Bernabe sa nasunog nadayami at iyong nagtago nito aynaghirap.

At iyong isa pang nagnakaw ngulo ay naospital ng tatlong araw dahilsa kumplikasyon sa asthma. Saangkan naman nila ay puro lalaki angnamamatay.

Makikita ang putol na ulo ni SanBernabe sa loob ng urna na nasakapilya ng Malis

Sa Sitio Tabon ng Barangay Malisay nagdaos din ng pabasa at maramiang nagdonasyon: may pera, bigasatbp. Magdaraos ang Tabon ng kapis-tahan ng kanilang patron, ang Mahalna Ina ng Laging saklolo sa ika-27 ngHunyo.

MAY 1 - 7, 2009 MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980 5

Editor’s Note: Following is the fulltext of the keynote speech of Chris-tian S. Monsod, former chairmanof the Commission on Elections, atthe Annual Community PressAwards of the Philippine Press In-stitute (PPI) held at the DiamondHotel Philippines in Manila onApril 28, 2009.

I want to thank Vergel Santos forsuggesting the title of my talk to-day — the critical importance ofelections at this current stage ofour democracy, and the role of me-dia.

What is the current stage of ourdemocracy? Will there be presiden-tial elections? Will the electionsbe free and fair? What is the role ofmedia in its making?

The world, according to the sur-veys of Polilty IV and FreedomHouse, is in the age of democracy.Democracy has been on the rise,with the countries considereddemocratic or free almost doublingin number in the last 30 years.

Despite this trend, the latelstannual survey of Freedom Housesays that “freedom retreated inmuch of the world in 2008, thethird year of global decline as mea-sured by political rights and civilliberties.” Most reversals occuredin Sub-Saharan Africa and theformer Soviet Union, while SouthAsia showed significant improve-ment. Except that in this part ofthe world, the Philippines is oneof those that experienced a declineand is no longer considered an elec-toral democracy. Moroever, it isonly considered partly free.

It should not surprise us thatelections is critical in this timewith some of our democratic insti-tutions arguably weakened if notdamaged — the electoral system,the rule of law, the seperation ofpowers, civilian rule and others.But then, looking back, when waselections not of critical importanceto our democracy? We have been inand out of crisis since 1986. Ours,after all, is a restored democracy ofonly 23 years, undergoing the usualfits and starts on the road to itsmaturity.

Our persent protracted politi-cal crisis started when then Presi-dent Joseph Estrada leftMalacanang in 2001, in a turn ofevents that continue to be legallyproblematical. The apex of this cri-sis was the July 2005 failed call bythe Hyatt 10 and former Presi-dent Aquino for President GloriaMacapagal-Arroyo to resign.

After the 2007 elections, itseemed we might enjoy a period ofnormalcy. The elections took place,despite attempts by the adminis-tration to change the Constitution,and the results were generally ac-cepted by the people in about 95%of some 17,000 positions, almostall local. But the normalcy wasshort-lived with the violence inthe elections, the unabated reportsof corruption in high places, thepolitical killings, the pardon offormer President Estrada, and thecontinuing attempts to test thelimits of executive and legislativepower.

Still, I admit that the 2007 elec-tions was a step forward in our de-mocracy, despite its flaws. And thevote of the people was clear — apreference for a change in the na-tional leadership as proxied by thesenatorial vote and support for theadministration in local constitu-encies, which is not surprising sincere-election is the norm in local poli-tics based on delivery of basic ser-vices.

If those in power and those whowould want their turn at it are toobusy interpreting events in per-sonal terms, they might miss theimportant signals being sent bythe people:

(1) There is a significant alien-ation and distrust in the electoralprocess and its administrators. Butthe people still prefer elections asthe best way to choose their lead-ers as against a military takeover,a revolutionary government, apeople power uprising or a self-serv-ing constitutional change. They arewary and weary of political experi-mentation.

(2) The people managed to vote

out of office previously entrenchedfamilies in such places asPampanga, Abra, Masbate, NuevaEcija, Cavite, Isabela.

(3) The vote in the Senate didnot show any significant correla-tions between media expense andwinning, nor of celebrity status.Two of the most handsome stars ofthe movie industry did not win.

(4) And while the political land-scape has not chaned much, thereis some good news about the char-acter of the so-called dynasties. Itmay be changing. The tie to landownership, the traditional caciqueconnection, is blurring and morefamily-based politicians belong tothe professional class.

This is one of the findings of abook entitled Philippine Democ-racy Assessment (project of theBritish Council, Fredrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Philippine DemocracyAudit and Transparency and Ac-countability Network) which alsopoints out that it is more mean-ingful to measure the “success” ofdemocracy not on “expert commonsense” which is usually critical andcynical of democracies, but moreon common sense. It suggests thatchanging the everyday practicesand assumptions of citizens mayhave more impact on the institu-tions and edifices of the Philippinegovernment and state more thanmore formal measures, like con-stitutional change.

The people seem to think so too.Hence, the changing paradigm inthe use of people power. And thewillingness of the people to pa-tiently wait for the 2010 electionsto effect a change in leadership anda renewal of our democratic insti-tutions. It’s a sign of some matu-rity in the electorate, maybe gen-erational, to recognize that, in-deed, the ultimate step in the ac-countability system of our Consti-tution is free, fair and regular elec-tions. That is why the electionsmust happen. That is why thepeople want it and expect it. Andthat, as James Surowiecke aptlydescribes in his book, is the unerr-ing “wisdom of crowds” i.e. “themany are smarter than the few”.Not that the decisions in a democ-racy “always demonstrate the wis-dom of the crowd, but that the de-cision to make them democrati-cally does.”

I believe that any attempt, bythe administration to abort theelections or change it to a parlia-mentary one, would be unaccept-able to a majority of the people whowould vote heavily against it, inthe unlikely event of a plebiscite.The protest will be more intenseif martial law were declared, sinceit would be outrageous to manu-facture a foreign invasion or a na-tionwide rebellion, the only twobases for declaring it. As you know,the phrase “imminent dangerthereof” and the word “insurrec-tion” have been removed from theConstitution. Even a far outscheme like a failed election wouldbe pyrrhic and short-lived. Thecarryover scenario would still re-quire an election to decide on asuccessor. There is no circumvent-

ing that.Every President in the recent

past who thought about stayinglonger realized, in the end, that itwas not worth the political turbu-lence or the risk to his person.

That is our recent history. Thereis, I believe, a statesman in everypolitician, and it is up to us to evokeit or leave them no option but tomanifest it. A Marcos did not sendtroops to EDSA, a Ramos aban-doned the attempt to remove theterm limits, an Estrada chose toleave Malacañang and an Arroyocan choose to step down on June30, 2010, graciously.

But all this does not mean thatwe will have free and fair elections,whether by design or incompe-tence. Unlike in previous manualelections where wholesale cheat-ing is executed during the elec-tions itself, any intent to manipu-late would be done well ahead of itby a few software specialists. In thisregard, I am disappointed that thecitizens arms, especially Namfrel,have not been active in scrutiniz-ing the choice of technology, itsimplementation and the safe-guards against automated cheat-ing, regardless of the risk of incur-ring the ire of the Comelec. That isits historic role as civil society’s in-dependent election count expert andwatchdog. Because, by the time ofelections, it will be too late to safe-guard the counting, canvassing andtransmission and there will be nooriginal source document for an in-dependent parallel count. The onlyprecinct election returns availabewill be machine-generated.

I will not belabor the issues onautomation, you had a forum aboutthat today. But I am concerned thatthe Comelec may be overextend-ing itself by deciding to go fromtotally manual to totally auto-mated, given the experience ofother countries and, more impor-tant, to paraphrase its own Advi-sory Council, its inadequate infor-mation technology (IT) infrastruc-ture to meet the complexities ofautomation. It did not help thatthe President did not appoint anIT-savvy commissioner at a timeof massive changes which, at P11.3billion, may be the biggest govern-ment expenditure in an IT project.Moreover, the Comelec has not re-ally been forthright and transpar-ent in answering the issues aboutits program. The postponement ofthe bidding yesterday may be thetip of an iceberg. There may be abigger story there that the mediashould pursue because the publichas a right to know.

I wish that the Comelec will beproven right by the actual conductand results of the elections andthat I am proven wrong in theseconcerns. There is no value to be-ing proven correct if it means thatthe elections will be questionable.

There are other factors that areat work in elections apart fromautomation such as the use of gov-ernment resources for partisan pur-poses and the palpable partisan-ship of segments of the PNP andthe military. And then there arethe so-called “command votes” in

Critical importance of elections and the role of media

the ARMM. The term simplymeans that what the arlord com-mands will be the result. It hasnever been solved because everyopposition has chosen to exploit itfor themselves when it was theirturn in power.

On the other hand, as we allknow, elections can succeed evenagainst the odds when people re-ally want it because they find waysto make it work at the ground level.The paradox of elections is whypeople bother to vote when “theirone vote cannot make a differencein the outcome or when, to most ofthem, the impact that any politi-cian will have on their everydaylives is relatively small.” Why in-deed? “Because of a ‘sense of duty’,according to a study, which showsit to be the best predictor ofwhether they will vote or not voteand because they want to have asay, no matter how miniscule, inhow their government is run.”This is beyond self-interest, whichis the basic premise of public choicetheory and may be the reason whyour electorate want to vote for thepresident directly.

In the 1984 and 1986 elections,the people were even willing toplay by the rules of a dictator aslong as elections were held. Thefact that elections is held serves tomake people aware that they haverights, even the most powerlessamong them. And that is a “sliverof light” as someone says, even inthe planned elections in Burmathat will surely be a sham, becauseit somehow gives hope of betterthings to come. What more, in ourcase, when the environment ismore benign and we are at least“partly free”?

Thus I believe that the presi-dential elections will be held asscheduled and there is a very goodchance it will be a credible pro-cess, even if the Comelec aborts itsOMR automation. Even better ifthe Comelec adopts what GusLagman calls the Open ElectionSystem (OES). Who actually winsis almost incidental, as long asthe process is free and fair andthe elections regular and peri-odic. That is what democracy isabout. The fact is that, even whenour democracy is not in its bestbehavior, somehow it works. Butit should work better. And me-dia has a role to play in that re-gard for the 2010 elections.

I cannot presume to tell youhow to do your job. It is hardenough for you to be in the pro-fession, since our country is con-sidered one of the most danger-ous places in the world for jour-nalists. And you already haveyour Code of Ethics.

But I can tell you a few of mypersonal experiences with mediain elections, from four vantagepoints - as Secretary-General andChairman of Namfrel, as Chair-man of the Comelec, as the hus-band of a failed senatorial candi-date and as part of the advisoryteam for a failed presidential can-didate, now mayor, Fred Lim.From my batting average, you un-derstand why partisan politics is

not my real vocation.I can tell you about the coura-

geous, like Sheila Coronel, whowrote about Namfrel in 1986,skeptical at times but always fo-cused on issues, always searchingfor the truth at a time when do-ing so was a revolutionary act.About the press corps at theComelec, an extraordinary groupof young and impertinent report-ers, dogged in getting the story,consistent in their objectivity anddelightful to banter with. Uponmy retirement they gave me abook, not about politics or elec-tions, but of poems by EmilyDickenson, with personal dedi-cations that are as eloquent asthe poems themselves. These re-porters went on to different ca-reers but if some of them arehere, I want them to know that Iremember them with specialfondness and respect.

There was only one corruptnewspaperman in the Comelecbeat - a senior reporter who askedoutright early in my stint for amonthly allowance to ensure myfront page treatment. I did notknow then what I found out laterwhen I finally opened the safe inthe Chairman’s office that theComelec, before Haydee Yorac’stime as acting chair, had been giv-ing allowances to a number of re-porters. He was the last amongthem still on the beat.

It was during Fred Lim’s cam-paign that I found that media people,especially tv newscasters, moon-lighted in the media office of candi-dates with bonuses for every men-tion of their names in the news.

There are many good peoplein your ranks, but there are somewho are not. The point is that wecannot ask politicians to act no-bly in their profession if we can-not act nobly in ours. Thus, if weare to address thedysfunctionalities in our system,it is especially important in theelections that media focus moreon issues than personalities,more on holding elected officialsto their promises rather thanwriting about their trivia for theday and on getting to the essenceof democratic elections.

The fact is that elections ismore a management problem thana legal one. And since elections is aprocess, procedures partake of thesubstance of the right of suffrage.Thus, it is the drudgery and thecumulative effect of the minutestdetails and safeguards that canmake or unmake the elections suchas on the part of the Comelec - en-suring logistical support in themost isolated precincts, rotatingComelec officers who are suspectout of critical areas, making sure theindelible ink works. In short, plan-ning for the thousand and one thingsthat can happen on election day. Thesame standard should be applied tocitizens arms and other stakehold-ers. In raising the right issues andmonitoring performance on the de-tailed procedures and safeguards,media will not only be performingan education role but will be an ac-tive enabler in the correct conductand results of the elections.

Democracy, like elections, is astep-by-painful-step of nation-building. It is like a huge jigsawpuzzle in which the completepicture is not finished until ev-eryone has put down his or herpiece. This is a good time to re-flect on our respective pieces. Inthe words of the assassinatedarchbishop Oscar Romero of ElSalvador, “It helps now and thento step back and take the longerview... we plant seeds that oneday will grow... we lay founda-tions that will need further de-velopment.... we are workers notmaster builders, we are minis-ters not messiahs, we are proph-ets of a future not our own.”

In conclusion, we know thatreform and change take time. Butmaking the journey is half thebattle won. And if we are not suc-cessful in 2010, or only partly so,we will try again and again in elec-tions after elections after elec-tions until we get the govern-ment we deserve and be truly de-serving of this blessed nation.

Christian S. Monsod

.... any attempt, by the

administration to abort

the elections or change

it to a parliamentary

one, would be

unacceptable to a

majorityof the people

who would vote

heavily against it,

in the unlikely event

of a plebiscite.

6 MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980 MAY 1 - 7, 2009

EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATEAMONG HEIRS WITH SALE

NOTICE is hereby given that the estate of the deceased Mateo Mallariand Virginia Magtoto Mallari who died intestate on December 18, 1990and May 16, 2004 respectively, both of Mabalacat, Pampanga. That saiddeceased spouses left a parcel of land situated in Barangay Mabiga,Municipality of Mabalacat, Province of Pampanga more particularly de-scribed in the Transfer Certificate of Title No. 442851-R containing anarea of Four Thousand Five Hundred Three (4,503 ) Square meters moreor less was extra-judicially settlement of estate among heirs with sale asper Doc. No. 37; Page No. 08; Book No. 04; Series of 2009 of NotaryPublic Atty. CARMELINO M. ROQUE.

Mabuhay: May 1, 8 and 15, 2009

EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE WITHDEED OF SALE OF A PORTION OF PARCEL OF LAND

NOTICE is hereby given that the estates of the deceased ReynaldoSan Juan who died intestate on May 27, 2008 at Sta. Maria, Bulacanleft one (1) parcel of land situated at Bo. Sta. Rosa, Marilao, Bulacanmore particularly described as Transfer Certificate of Title No.T130425(M) was extrajudicially settled among legitimate heirs withDeed of Sale of a Portion of Parcel of Land as per Doc. No. 216; PageNo. 45; Book No. 58; Series of 2009 of notary Public of Atty. NenitaD.C. Tuazon.

Mabuhay: May 1, 8 & 15, 2009EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE

WITH WAIVER OF SHARE

NOTICE is hereby given that the estate of the deceased REMEDIOSLUCAS LEOPANDO who died intestate on March 4, 2008 at #2248-DSeverino Reyes St. Sta. Cruz, Manila leaving behind three (3) parcelsof land with improvements existing thereon and more particularlydescribed as follows: a) Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-43.617(M);and b) Transfer of Certificate of Title No. O-0909(M) both situated inPaliwas Obando, Bulacan; and c) Transfer of Certificate of Title NoRT-6293 (T-164488) situated in Binagbag, Angat, Bulacan, has beenextrajudicially settled with waiver of share among her legitimate heirsas per Doc. No. 300; page No. 60; Book No. II; Series of 2009 ofNotary Public of Attorney Ramon S. Masagca.

Mabuhay: May 1,8 & 15, 2009

Export Corporation (TCCEC) PhilippineDivision.

Ayon kay Red Batario, natatangi angmga larawang inilathala ng Mabuhay sataong 2008 dahil sa ang mga ito aynagbibigay ng dagdag na kulay sa mgabalitang inilathala bukod pa sa nagsisilbingtumpak na ilustrasyon ng mga balita.

Si Batario ay tagapangulo ng Center forCommunity Journalism and Development(CCJD), at isa sa mga hurado nasabingpatimpalak.

Matatandaan na ang Mabuhay aytumangggap ng katulad na parangal noong1996 at 2005, at tumanggap din ngparangal na Best Edited Newspaper mulasa PPI para sa mga taong 2003 at 2007.

Bukod dito, tumangap pa angMabuhay ng pagkilala mula sa PPI atTCEC para sa taong 2007 dahil sa mahusayna pamamahayag gamit ang pamamaraangcivic journalism na siyang naging batayansa katatapos na parangal.

Samantala, humakot naman ng tig-dalawang parangal ang Sun.Star Davaoat pahayagang Balikas na nakabase saLungsod ng Lipa sa Batangas sa daily cat-egory at weekly category, ayon sa pagka-kasunod.

Tinanggap ng Sun.Star Davao angmga parangal na “best in business and eco-nomic reporting” at “best in science and

environment reporting,” samantalanginiiuwi ng Balikas ang mga parangal na“best in science and environment report-ing” at “best edited paper.”

Ang iba pang nagsipagwagi sa daily cat-egory ay ang Sun.Star Cebu natumanggap ng parangal na “best editedpaper” at Cebu Daily News natumanggap ng “Best in Photojournalism”.

Walang nanalo bilang “Best editorialpage” sa daily category sa taong ito.

Para naman sa mga lingguhangpahhayagan, tinanggap ng Sun.StarSoccsksargen ang parangal na “best inbusiness and economic reporting award”,samantalang nakuha ng Baguio MidlandCourier ang “best editorial page.”

Noong nakaraang taon, kapwa inuwi ngSun.Star Davao at Balikas ang parangalna “best in science and environment re-porting”, at iniuwi naman ng Baguio Mid-land Courier ang parangal na “best inbusiness and economic reporting” noon.

Ang prestisyosong parangal ay angnatatanging pagkilala na ibinibigay sa mgapahayagang pampamayanan sa bansa.

Ito ang nagsilbing tampok na gawainsa 13th National Press Forum na ang temaay “Reporting the 2010 Elections Now.”

Ayon kay Ramon Tuazon ng Asian In-stitute of Journalism and Communication(AIJC), ang batayan ng parangal ay ang

pamamaraang civic journalism. Ito ay sinusuportahan ng ng TCCEC na

mula pa noong 2002 ay kabalikat na ngPPI sa pagasasagawa ng mga pagasasanaysa civic journalism sa mga mamamahayagbilang bahagi ng kanilang corporate socialresponsibility (CSR).

Bilang bahagi ng CSR ng TCEC, angmga isinagawang pagsasanay sa civic jour-nalism ay may temang “building bettercommunities through Civic Journalism.”

Bago ipinamahagi ang mga parangal,ipinakita rin ng PPI at TCEC ang mgamaiikling video clips kung paano isina-sasagawa ng mga nagsipagwaging paha-yagan ang pamamaraang civic journalism.

Bukod kay Batario ang iba pangnagsilbing hurado sa patimpalak ay sinaYvonne Chua ng Department of Journal-ism ng University of the Philippines-Diliman, dating Environment SecretaryFulgencio Factoran ng Factoran and Asso-ciates Law Office, Pacita Juan ng Philip-pine Coffee Board Inc., at Vergel Santos ngBusinessWorld na nagsilbi rintagapangulo ng mga hurado. Si Santos ayisa sa mga trustees ng PPI.

Ang 13th National Press Forum aysama-samang inihatid sa tulong ng mgapahayagang Malaya, Philippine DailyInquirer, Journal Group of Publica-tions, Manila Standard Today, The

Philippine Star at BusinessWorld. Sa mga nasabing pahayagan ang nagbi-

gay ng premyong salapi para sa mmganagsipagwagi sa 2008 PPI-TCCEC CivicJournalism Community Press Awards.

Bukod dito, nagbigay din ng tulong atsuporta ang United Print Media Group(UPMG), Department of Tourism (DOT),David’s Salon, Dental First, PhilHealth,Globe, National Power Corporation(NAPOCOR), ShoeMart (SM), Metro Ma-nila Development Authority (MMDA), Of-fice of the Press Secretary, United Labora-tories (UNILAB), Diamond Hotel Philip-pines, Luisa Ridge Hot Spring Resort andSpa, Unilever Philippines, Pilipinas Shell,Pamahalaang Panglalawigan ng Bulacan,Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), RizalCommercial Banking Corporation (RCBC),Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) JohnRobert Powers, Department of Agriculture(DA), Glaxo Smith Kline, Social SecuritySystem (SSS), Pag-ibig Fund, SunCellular,Bureau of Immigration, Robinsons Malls,ZestAir, Philippine Amusement and Gam-ing Corporation (PAGCOR), AACI Glass-works, Government Service Insurance Sys-tem (GSIS), FIBISCO SEAIR and TESDA.

Ang mga nabanggit na kumpanya attanggapan ay nagbigay ng mga salaping tulongsa tatalong araw na pagtitipon bukod pa samga token at ibat-ibang raffle prizes. — DB

mula sa pahina 1

sa posibilidad ng pagkalat salalawigan ng Influenza A H1NIna unang tinawag na “MexicanSwine Flu”. Ang unang kaso ngoutbreak o pagkalat nito aynaitala sa Lungsod ng Mexico sabansang Mexico kung saan ay maymga naitala nang namatay.

Nasundan ang nasabing kasosa Amerika, Europa, South Korea,at ang pinakahuli ay sa Hongkongkung saan ang isang tao na nagb-iyahe mula sa Mexico papuntangShanghai, China at Hongkong angnakumpirmang may Influenza AH1N1 virus noong Mayo 1.

Ikinagulat ng mga dalubhasang WHO ang kumpirmasyon ngkasong influenza A H1N1 saHongkong na noong Pebrero 2003

Nakarating sa Hong Kong ang kinakatakutang sakit

Photojournalism Award muling nakuha ng Mabuhay

EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATEAMONG HEIRS WITH WAIVER

NOTICE is hereby given that the estate of the deceased Mateo Mallariand Virginia Magtoto Mallari who died intestate on December 18, 1990and May 16, 2004 respectively, both of Mabalacat, Pampanga. That saiddeceased spouses left a parcel of land situated in Barangay Mabiga,Municipality of Mabalacat, Province of Pampanga more particularly de-scribed in the Transfer Certificate of Title No. 442851-R containing anarea of Four Thousand Five Hundred Three (4,503 ) Square meters moreor less was extra-judicially settled among their heirs as per Doc. No.1468; Page No. 28; Book No. XXXII; Series of 2005 of Notary Public Atty.Jackson Visda Yabut.Mabuhay: April 24, May 1 & 8, 2009

Ito ay iniaalay at ipinagpapasalamat naminsa sambayanang Bulakenyo na tumatangkiliksa Mabuhay, gayundin sa mga taong nasa likodnito, mga advertisers, mga kapwa mama-mahayag, at higit sa lahat, sa makapangyarihanat mapagpalang Diyos na mula pa noong 1980ay nakasubabay sa pahayagang ito.

Sa kabuuan, ika-anim na parangal na itona tinanggap ng Mabuhay mula sa PPI, angpambansang samahan ng mga pahayagan sabansa. Unang tumanggap ng parangal na “Bestin Photojournalism”ang Mabuhay noong 1996at 2005.

Tumanggap rin ng parangal na “Best Ed-ited Paper” ang Mabuhay mula sa PPI para samga taong 2003 at 2007, bukod pa sa pagkilalapara sa taong 2007 dahil sa mahusay napamamahayag gamit ang pamamaraang civicjournalism.

Para sa mga bumubuo ng pahayagangMabuhay, ang mga nasabing parangal atpagkilala ay pagpapatunay ng patuloy napaghahangad para sa patas, responsable atmataas na antas ng pamamahayag.

Naniniwala ang mga bumubuo nglingguhang pahayagang Mabuhay na angmataas na antas ng pamamahayag ay bungang pagiging isang mabuting mamamayan.

Ito ay nangangahulugan na walangpinapanigan ang Mabuhay kungdi ang kato-tohanan.

Sa diwang iyan, kami ay nakahandangtumapik at pumilantik. Ngunit sa bawat,pilantik, huwag isiping iyan ay personal, sahalip kami at nagtatrabaho lang at nagpapaalalalamang.

Tandaan, ang paalalang iyan ay isangpaalalang mamamayan. Paalalang Bulakenyo,may tapik at pilantik.

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Editoryal mula sa pahina 2

mula sa pahina 1

hawa ang tao sa virus mulasa kapwa tao, ngunitkakaunti pa rin ang bilang.

At ang stage five namanay kapag mayroon nang taona nahawa sa virus mula sakapwa tao, at higit na masmarami ang kanilangbilang, ngunit nananatili pa

5 bahagdan ng pagtugon

mula sa pahina 1

“Simple lang angUbokabularyo,” ani Gomezat idinagdag na,” we advisepeople na magtakip ng ilongat bibig gamit ang panyokapag uubo, maghugas ngkamay at huwag ipahid itokung saan, o kaya ayumuubo sa manggas o loobng damit.”

Ang “Ubokabularyo” aynakatakda namang isamang Department of Educa-tion (DepEd) bilang bahaging kanilang health educa-tion program.

Ayon kay Dr. Gomez,ang pagkalat ng sakit Influ-

Ubokabularyoenza A H1N1 ay katuladdin ng karaniwang flu,kaya’t inaasahan nilangmalaki ang maitutulong ng“Ubokabularyo” sa pagpigilsa pagkalat nito.

Ang unang kaso ng In-fluenza A H1N1 ay naitalanoong nakaraang linggo saLungsod ng Mexico kungsaan mahigit 1,600 kataona ang kumpirmadongnahawahan nito at 103 nanaitalang namatay. Ayonsa ulat ng World Health Or-ganization noong Biyernes,Mayo 1, nakapagtala na rinng kaso ng nasabing sakitsa Amerika, Europa, SouthKorea at Hongkong.— DB

ring localized anginpeksyon o nananatili saisang lugar.

Ang stage six o hulingbahagdan naman ay kungmayroong patuloy na pag-kahawa ng tao mula sakapwa tao at lumalawakang nasasakupang lugarkung saan ay may mganahawang tao. — DB

ay naging sentro ng pagkalat ngSevere Acute Respiratory Syn-drome (SARS) na kumitil sabuhay ng 770 katao sa buongmundo kabilang ang 229 saHongkong.

Batay na rin sa naunang paha-yag ng mga dalubhasa, nakaka-pangamba ang bilis ng pagkalatng influenza virus sa panahong itokumpara sa mga naitalang influ-enza pandemic noong 1918, 1950,1957 at 1968 dahil sa mabilis angpaglalakbay ngayon sa pama-magitan ng eroplano kumparanoon. (Basahin ang kaugnay nabalita hhinggil sa pandemic in-fluenza sa pahina 1 )

Gayunpaman, sinabi ng pub-lic health office ng Bulacan nabatay sa kanilang karanasan, angmabilis, tama at magkakaugnay

na pagtugon sa mga viral diseasesang isa sa mga pangunahingsandata laban dito.

Ipinaliwanag ni Dr. Gomez naang pinakamabisang paraan parakontrolin ang virus ay sa pama-magitan ng containment o pagpi-gil sa pagkalat nito.

“Our system is in place and it’sjust a matter of reactivatingthem,” aniya at sinabing mabilisang isinagawa nilang quarantinesa Calumpit noong 2005 laban sabird flu at sa Pandi laban sa EVRmula noong Disyembre hanggangsa kasalukuyan.

Ayon kay Gomez, naging mabi-sang pamamaraan ang pagpa-patupad ng quarantine sa Calum-pit at Pandi dahil naiwasan onapigil ang posibilidad ngpagkalat ng virus sa mga nasabing

lugar, ayon sa pagkakasunod. Patungkol sa pasilidad at

tauhan sa mga ospital, sinabi niGomez na nakahanda na ang mgaito, maliban sa gamot na hindi panaipapadala ng DOH.

“Our rural health units willtake care of the common flu, butthose who are suspected as carri-ers of the influenza A H1N1 willbe immediately referred to the Re-search Institute for Tropical Medi-cine (RITM) in Metro Manila,” aniGomez.

Sinabi pa niya na maging angJose B. Lingad Hospital sa Lung-sod ng San Fernando, Pampangaay nakahanda na rin.

Kaugnay nito kinumpirma niDr. Romeo Manalili, pangrehi-yong beterinaryo sa GitnangLuzon, na ang stage five alert na

ginagamit ngayon ng WHO aykatulad ng stage five alert nainihanda laban sa bird flu (Basa-hin sa pahina 1 ang kaugnayna balita sa mga alert).

Ipinayo naman nina Dr. ErvinPaz Bacon-Dela Rosa at Dr. Ro-dante Parulan na dapat pana-tilihin ang pagkain ang mga heal-thy food, at ang pagmamantineng healthy lifestyle upang ma-kaiwas sa sakit.

Ayon pa sa mga doktor, masmakabubuting umiwas ang mgatao sa pagpupuyat, pag-inom ngalak at paninigarilyo upang mati-yak na malakas ang katawan.

Iginiit ni Dr. Dela Rosa nadapat ding umiiwas muna sa mgamatataong lugar ang mga taoupang maiwasan ang pagkalat ngvirus. — Dino Balabo.

Ang tubig ay buhay.Pag-ingatan natin ito.

MAY 1 - 7, 2009 MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980 7

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Promdi mula sa pahina 2

nunuod ay kinain angpasalubong ko. Naisip ko, hindiintresado si Bethany Eirene sakuwento ko sa halip ay masinteresado siya sa pasalubong.

Katulad sa nagdaang taon, simisis at ang aking ina angnagtatanong hinggil sa parangalng tinanggap ng Mabuhay at sakabuuan ng tatlong araw napagtitipon.

Ikinuwento ko sa kanila namaayos ang pagtitipon, pati na angaking pagbibigay ng panayamhinggil sa pampamayanangpamamahayag sa mga kabataangmamamahayag na dumalo saScholastic Press Forum.

Siyempre, ikinuwento ko rinna halos tatlong araw kamingnagtatalo ng aking kasama sakuwarto na si Joey Aguilar ngPunto Central Luzon kungmananalo sa taunang parangalang Mabuhay at ang kanyangpahayagan

Unang araw pa lang namin niJoey sa Diamond Hotel, sinabi naniya na hindi siya umaasangmananalo ang Punto dahil samahuhusay ang mga pahayagangkatunggali sa daily newspapercategory. Ngunit nagpapasalamatpa rin siya dahil unang taon palamang ng pagsapi ng Punto saPPI ay napabilang na sila sa mgafinalist.

“Panalo tayo, napanaginipanko kagabi,” sabi ko kay Joeynoong Martes ng umaga habangnag-aalmusal kami

Kaso hindi siya naniniwala sapanaginip. “Kabaligtaran dawang panaginip,” aniya.

Kinagabihan, hindi pa rinkami mapakali dahil hindi naminalam kung sino ang nanalo. Ito

ang isa sa hinahangaan namin kayAriel Sebellino, project coordina-tor ng PPI, dahil kahit alam niyakung sino ang nanalo, hindi niyaibubulgar iyon.

Sa pagsisimula ng pagbibigayng mga tropeo sa mga nagwagi,pumuwesto ako sa tabi ngentablado upang kumuha ng mgalarawan. Maya-maya pa aytinawag ang Mabuhay bilangawardee sa “Best in Photojournal-ism.”

Hindi ako tuminag dahilinaasahan ko na ang aking pub-lisher at editor-in-chief na si JoePavia ang tatanggap ng tropeo.Ngunit hindi rin siya tuminag.Tuwing makakatanggap kasi ngparangal sa PPI ang Mabuhay aysi Ka Peping Raymundo, associ-ate editor ng Mabuhay angumaakyat sa entablado.

Ngunit, dahil sa may karam-daman si Ka Peping, ako na angpinaakyat upang tumanggap saunang pagkakataon.

Iba ang pakiramdam kapagnasa entabaldo ka. Pakiramdamko ay baligtad ang mundo dahildati ay ako ang nasa likod ngkamera, sa pagkakataong iyon ayako ang nasa harap.

May pagbubunyi ang akingpakiramdam sa pagtanggap ngtropeo, pero nandoon pa rin angkalungkutan dahil mula nongAgosto ng nagdaang taon aywalang kinikita ang Mabuhaydahil sa nakansela angpaglalathala ng mga judicial no-tices.

Karamay ko sa damdamingiyon ang bumbuo ng Mabuhayat maging si Joey dahil sakasalukuyan ding dumadaan sakagipitan sa pananalapi angPunto Central Luzon.

Gayunpaman, naniniwalakami na hindi sapat ang mgapagsubok na aming tinatahakupang bumaba ang antas ngaming pamamahayag.

Sabi nga, “tiis muna” attingnan ang mga positibongbahagi ng buhay. Siyempre,kabilang diyan ang mgapagkakamali o pansamantalangkatangahan katulad ng nangyarisa amin ni Joey nang una kamingsumakay sa elevator ng DiamondHotel matapos mag-check-in.

Pagpasok namin sa elevator,pinindot ko ang buton kung anongpalapag kami baba. Ngunit hindigumalaw ang elevator, kayalumabas kami at lumipat sakabila. Doon ko lang napansin anginstruction na dapat pala ayisaksak muna namin ang amingcard key para umandar ang eleva-tor.

Totoo.Pansamantalang kabo-bohan iyon. Pero ang maganda,natuto kami at alam na namin anggagawin sa susunod.

Gayundin sa pagsalubong saakin ng aking supling na siBethany Eirene na lumalabas namas interesado sa pasalubong naJollibee.

Pero pagkaubos naman ngkanyang “Jabee”, hindi na niyaako tinigilan sa kakukulithanggang sa sinusulat ko angpitak na ito sa aming bahay.

“Daddy,” ang madalas na batini Bethany Eirene sa akin nasinasabayan pa ng kalabit habangako ay nagsusulat.

“Anak, sandali lang, matataposna si Daddy, maglalaro na tayopagka-email ko nito kay LoloJoe,” sabi ko naman sabay yakapat halik sa kanya, at pagkataposay binuhat ko pabalik sa kanyangMommy.

ng their ancestral domain intomodern farmlands that wouldproduce real certified Halal foodfor the Moslem population in thePhilippines , and eventually forexport to the Middle East and toother Moslem areas.

In the course of my long con-versations with Datu Didilusan, Imentioned to him my idea aboutbuilding self-sufficient communi-ties within their ancestral do-mains, communities that wouldfully benefit from integrated areadevelopment (IAD), in line withthe Human Settlements Ap-proach (HSA).

I also shared with him my ideaof making these communities ex-cel in the measurements of theHuman Development Index(HDI).

To my delight, Datu Didilusannot only embraced IAD, HSA and

HDI, he also took warmly to mysuggestion of preserving the natu-ral forest that they are now pro-tecting, to the point that he actu-ally agreed not to cut any moretrees there, and turning it insteadinto a bio-diverse source of liveli-hood.

At that point, our discussionmoved over to the planting ofmore trees, for the purpose ofclaiming carbon credits throughthe international Clean Develop-ment Mechanism (CDM) as de-fined in the Kyoto Protocol.Asluck would have it, I was also for-tunate to have met some CDMexperts, and they are now in theprocess of looking into ways ofenabling the Talaandig tribe, sothat they could produce, docu-ment and sell their carbon cred-its to the international markets.As one surprise came after the

other, I also found out that Dr.Federico Macaranas, the one whobaptized me into the field of de-velopment diplomacy is now theleading expert of CDM in the Phil-ippines , in his capacity as Execu-tive Director of the Asian Insti-tute of Management (AIM) PolicyCenter .

I am proud to say that he wasmy boss at the Department ofForeign Affairs (DFA) when hewas an Undersecretary there.Much more have to be done, but Icould now say that the communi-ties in the ancestral domains ofthe tribe could now look forwardto a better future, due to the factthat the economic forces are nowworking in their favor.

— unidaphilippines-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to join theUnited National Integrated Devel-opment Alliance (UNIDA). Text+639293605140

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Fair & Square from page 3

lations between media ex-pense and winning, as ProsperoPichay learned. Two movie starslost.

The political landscape ischanging, albeit slowly. Ties toland ownership and traditionalcacique connection areblurring…More family based poli-ticians belong to the professionalclass.

Constitutional accountabilityPeople today spurn calls for

People Power. They prefer to waitfor the 2010 elections This grow-ing maturity recognizes that the“ultimate step, in constitutionalaccountability, is free,. fair andregular elections… “That is whyelections must happen,” Monsodstressed. .People want it. Theyexpect it.

Problems ahead include “pal-

pable partisanship of segments inthe military and national police,Another is the “command vote”in the Automonous Region ofMuslim Mindanao. “What thewarlord commands will be theresult.. This has never been re-solved. Every opposition has cho-sen to exploit it for themselveswhen it was their turn in power.”

Manual electionsThe most subtle threats lurk

in approved measures for long-overdue automation. “In previ-ous manual elections, wholesalecheating occurred during ballot-ing. In 2010, any intent to ma-nipulate would be done wellahead by a few software special-ists.”

The time to watch is now, astechnology for 2010 elections isselected. “By the time of elec-

tions, it will be too late.” Comelecfavors the P11.3 billion PrecinctCount Optical Scan system. Here,even precinct election returns willbe machine-generated. There isno paper trail.

Complexities of automationThe Advisory Council notes

that Comelec’s “ informationtechnology structure is inad-equate to meet complexities ofautomation. “Comelec may beoverextending itself by goingfrom totally manual to totally au-tomated.” Monsod added. Othercountries did that in stages.

Comelec hasn’t fully an-swered issues about what is his-torically the biggest expenditurefor information technologyproject. Already, Comelec haspostponed bids.

“I wish Comelec will beproven right by the actual con-duct and results,” Monsod said“There’s no value to my beingproven correct if elections willbe questionable.”

In 1984 and 1986, peoplewere willing to play by the rulesof a dictator, as long as electionswere held. Even Burma’s shamelections, give a “sliver of light”of better things to come. Whatmore in our case, where the envi-ronment is more benign. And weare, at least, partly free.” —juanlmercado@gmail.com

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Depthnews from page 3

cisco Duque III urged during arecent press conference.

An advisory from the healthdepartment said people shouldcover their nose and mouth withtissue when coughing or sneezing,wash their hands regularly withsoap and water especially aftercoughing or sneezing, and avoidclose contact with sick people orcrowded places.

A sick or feverish personshould be closely monitored andstay at home to limit contact withothers. When the fever and flupersists, doctors should be con-sulted immediately. “Refrain firstfrom kissing or shaking handswith one another,” urged Dr. EricTayag, chief of the healthdepartment’s National Epidemi-ology Center.

There is no vaccine specificallyprotects a person against swineflu, and it is unclear how muchprotection current human-flu vac-cines might offer. However, Dr.Duque pointed out the govern-ment has enough stockpile of theTamiflu (oseltamivir), the anti-viral drug used to treat varioustypes of flu.

Swine flu – shorter version forswine influenza – is a highly con-tagious acute respiratory diseaseof pigs, caused by one of severalswine influenza A viruses. Al-though the morbidity rate is high,mortality is low and becomeshigher only in complicated cases.

Swine flu viruses are mostcommonly of the H1N1 subtype,but other subtypes are also circu-lating in pigs (example: H1N2,H3N1, H3N2). Pigs can also beinfected with avian influenza vi-ruses and human seasonal influ-enza viruses as well as swine in-fluenza viruses. The H3N2 swinevirus was thought to have beenoriginally introduced into pigs byhumans.

“The virus is spread among pigsby aerosols, direct and indirectcontact, and asymptomatic carrierpigs,” the WHO explains. “Manycountries routinely vaccinateswine populations against swineinfluenza.”

Among pigs, the usual signs ofswine flu are anorexia, fever,

chills, and prostration. “Thumpsor jerky breathing is observed,together with sneezing and cough-ing,” informs The Science andPractice of Swine Production.“Eye and nasal discharges arewatery in the beginning, but laterbecomes sticky and mucoid. Thecondition may worsen and pre-cipitate into bronchopneumoniawhich can lead to death.”

Sometimes pigs can be in-fected with more than one virustype at a time. “Although swineflu viruses are normally speciesspecific and only infect pigs, theydo sometimes cross the speciesbarrier to cause disease in hu-mans,” the WHO states.

Dr. Tayag said the swine fluvirus is spread via aerial dropletsand could be passed from pig tohuman or human to human. Hesaid infected individuals could ex-hibit symptoms of the illnessthree to five days after being in-fected.

The symptoms of swine flu inpeople, the CDC says, are similarto the symptoms of regular hu-man flu and include fever, cough,sore throat, body aches, chills andfatigue. Some people have re-ported diarrhea and vomiting.Like seasonal flu, swine flu maycause a worsening of underlyingchronic medical conditions.

The WHO says people usuallyget swine flu from infected pigs.Human-to-human transmissionoccurs when a person has in closecontacts with people who have thevirus. It can pass from human tohuman via coughing, sneezing ortouching infected people or sur-faces, then touching the mouth,nose or eyes.

“If a swine virus establishes ef-ficient human-to human trans-mission, it can cause an influenzapandemic,” the WHO warns. Dr.Tayag claims a pandemic usuallyoccurs every 10 to 40 years, andthat the last pandemic happenedin 1968 (which killed about onemillion people around the globe).

Health experts claim a pan-demic would deal a major blow toa world economy already suffer-ing its worst crisis in decades, andexperts say it could cost trillionsof dollars.

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Regarding Henry from page 3

EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE WITH ABSOLUTE SALE

NOTICE is hereby given that the estate of the deceased BERNALDA OSDAÑA andJUSTINO M. GERONA who died intestate on January 15, 1982 and June 2, 1999,respectively, at Sta. Maria General Hospital, Sta Maria, Bulacan, leaving behind acertain parcel of land which is conjugal and more particularly described in Katibayanng Orihinal na Titulo Blg. P-5976 (M), situated in Dulong Bayan, San Jose DelMonte, was extrajudicially settled among their legitimate heirs with absolute sale asper Doc. No. 615; Page No. 23; Book No. 43 Series of 1999 of the Notarial Registryof Notary Public Atty. Ernesto A. Casas.

Mabuhay: May 1, 8 & 15, 2009

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINESLOCAL CIVIL REGISTRY OFFICE

PROVINCE: BULACANCITY/MUNICPAL: OBANDO

NOTICE FOR PUBLICATIONIn compliance with Section 5 of R.A. Act No. 9048, a notice is hereby servedto the public that Asuncio Alfonso Correa has filed with this Office a petition forchange of first name from MARIA ASUNCION to ASUNCION in the birthcertificate of Asuncion Garcia Alfonso who was born on 15 August 1952 atObando, Bulacan, Philippines and whose parents are Feliciano Alfonso andMonica Garcia.

Any person adversely affected by said petition may file his written oppositionjwith this Office not later than -O-

(Sgd) PEDRO C. SEVILLAMunicipal Civil Registrar

Obando, Bulacan

Mabuhay: May 1 and 8, 2009

8 MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980 MAY 1 - 7, 2009

PPI COMMUNITY PRESS AWARDS

MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980

NGITI NG TAGUMPAY— Masayang nagpakuha ng larawan ang mga kinatawan ngpampamayanang pahayagan sa bansa na nagsipagwagi sa prestisyosong Philip-pine Press Institute (PPI) Civic Journalism Community Press Awards na isinagawasa Diamond Hotel Philippines sa Maynila noong Martes ng gabi, Abril 28. Sila ay sina

(mula sa kaliwa) Dino Balabo ng Mabuhay, Cherry Ann Lim ng Sun.Star Cebu, EstelaEstremera ng Sun.Star Davao at Sun.Star Soccksargen, Michelle So ng Sun.Star Cebu,Leia Fidelis Castro ng Baguio Midland Courier, Walter Lingon ng Balikas at AileenMangubat ng Cebu Daily News. — Ben Briones

STAR OF THE NIGHT — Tinanghal na “Star ofthe Night” sa gabi ng parangal ng Philippine PressInstitute (PPI) si Estela Estemera ng Sun.StarDavao at Sun.Star Soccsksargen matapos huma-kot ng talong parangal sa 13th PPI Civic Journal-ism Community Press Awards ang mga nasabing

EXHIBIT NG PUNTO NG CENTRAL LUZON — Kahit isang taonpa lamang kasapi ng PPI ang Punto Central Luzon ay napabilang naito sa mga nagsagawa ng exhibit sa katatapos na PPI GeneralAssembly at National Press Forum dahil sa pagiging finalist Puntosa 13th PPI Community Press Awards. Mula kaliwa: Jose L. Pavia,executive director ng PPI at editor-publisher ng Mabuhay, Dr. LeoLazatin, publisher ng Punto, at Joey Aguilar, editor-in-chief.

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD — Nakangiting ipinakikita nina LeiaFidelis Castro (kanan) at Katrina Acupanda ng Baguio Midland Cou-rier ang tropeong nakamit matapos tanghaling “people’s choice”ang kanilang exhibit booth sa katatapos na kumbensyon ng Philip-pine Press Institute. Ang nasabing eksibisyon ay may temang“Journey of Excellence”. — Ben Briones

pahayagan. Makikita sa larawan sina (mula sakaliwa) dating Comelec Chairman ChristianMonsod, Estremera, Pacita Juan ng PhilippineCoffee Board, at Bayani Baylong ng The Coca-cola Export Corporation, ang pangunahingtagasuporta ng taunang parangal. — Ben Briones

BARANGAY MABUHAY — Bilang alaala sa mulingpagtanggap ng parangal na “Best in Photojour-nalism” sa 13th PPI Community Press Awards,humarap sa kamera ang Barangay Mabuhay saloob ng exhibition booth ng linnguhang pahayaganmatapos ang gabi ng parangal sa Diamond HotelPhilippines sa Maynila noong Abril 28. Nasa

harap nina Jose L. Pavia, editor-publisher at PinkyP. Vergara ang tropeong nakamit. Nakapaligid sakanila (mula kaliwa) sina Maricel Dayag, RiaPavia, Dodie P. Ventura, Armand M. Arellano,Luchie P. Ticzon, Joseph Asanza, Boots P. Asanza,Martin P. Asanza at Ariel Sebellino, PPI progamcoordinator. — Ben Briones